Published Monday 18 March 2024 at 14:15
The doors are set to temporarily close on Darwen Youth Centre to allow for a £3.3m transformation.
It’ll see the Knott Street facility double in size over the next year – adding a brand-new first floor.
Building on the success of the existing Darwen Youth Centre and Youth Zone Darwen, the extension will pave the way for state-of-the-art facilities, including:
- A new creative workshop space
- Recording and DJ studio
- Gaming zone and multi-use spaces
- Upgraded outdoor sports facilities
The scheme is one of five across the borough to benefit from more than £8m of new investment secured through the Government’s Youth Investment Fund.
Councillor Julie Gunn, Deputy Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council and Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said:
Wow! What a facility this will be once it’s finished.
To have this chance to double the size of the youth centre is phenomenal and the opportunities the extra space will bring for the young people who use it is just fantastic.
In the summer round of the Youth Investment Fund, Blackburn with Darwen secured more funding from Government than any other place in the country with Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone, Audley & Queen’s Park Children’s Centre and Shadsworth Hub all benefitting.
Added to this, we also recently secured a further £140,000 to refurbish Wensley Fold Children’s Centre too to renovate its youth service offer there – more fantastic news.
Driving us is our determination that every child and young person in the borough should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential – we truly believe that no-one should be left behind.
And I know this funding will transform the facilities for our children and young people right across Blackburn with Darwen – it’ll help change lives.
Darwen Youth Centre will temporarily close from Sunday, March 31st.
While the work is underway, youngsters will be able to continue to access sessions at the new Darwen Youth Zone in Railway Road, at Blackburn Rovers Indoor Centre (BRIC), and at the Rainbow Centre, also Railway Road.
You can see a full list of what’s on and when by clicking here.
Car parking at Darwen Railway Station and Atlas Road has also been made free for the duration of the works, with the new youth centre set to open in early 2025.
Councillor Gunn adds:
While the doors to Darwen Youth Centre building may be temporarily closed, it’ll be very much ‘business as usual’ with lots of great sessions for our youngsters to take part in across the town and borough.
We know that giving children and young people something really good to do and engage in is important and we have a packed schedule of activities for all ages, please do check out the list.
We’ve also recently announced £200,000 of new Council funding for playgrounds in Darwen too – paving the way for upgrades at Bold Venture Park and Whitehall and, of course, thanks to funding through the Darwen Town Deal, there’s also the incredible Junction4 Skate Park, an Olympic standard facility right here in our borough.
Darwen Youth Centre is just one of many town centre projects planned for new investment.
And the Government has also included Darwen as one of 55 places to benefit from up to £20m of new investment through the Long-Term Plan for Towns Scheme.
You can read about all of this and more in the new Shuttle magazine which will drop through your letterbox any day now.
For all the latest on the Darwen Youth Centre development, please follow Blackburn with Darwen Council on Facebook, Insta or X.